Today was gloomy but quite mild in temperature (60 degrees F).  It looks like rain this afternoon and through the evening.  The garden continues to come alive although we haven’t seen our early blooming witch hazels (Hamamelis sp.) blooming yet.  Different from our native, fall blooming Hamamelis virginiana, the selections featured in this blog offer early season interest.  These images show some exciting opportunities for early spring color with these witch hazel selections and you’ll see some that also have exceptional fall color like Autumn Embers™ vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis‘KLMNINETEEN’) seen above with early flowers and the excellent fall color in the photo directly below…  The Ozark witch hazels (Hamamelis vernalis) are native to the south and central USA and prefer moist, acidic and rich soils.  Consistent moisture is important for these large shrubs (6′-10′) that will tolerate full and part sun.  The early, fragrant flowers emerge before the leaves and while small, offer excellent color with their wispy, “confetti-like” blooms.  It’s exciting to see so many orange, red and maroon blooming selections now.  Fall color is typically a decent yellow but some selections are being made for superior fall color.  Enjoy the beauty of these hardy (Z4) woody plants that should be blooming here in about a month (or sooner).  At the bottom of the blog is the hybrid witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’) which is a cross between H. japonica and H. mollis.  Hardy to Z5, this selection would be the earliest to bloom for us and the photos I’ve included are of a beautiful specimen up at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) that I photograph every late winter.

We had a busy day at the gardens.  Cindy, Larry O. and Janice were on hand as grounds staff members.  Alan, Lloyd, Ron R., Dennis and Dick H. all worked out in the gardens on various projects including cutting down more of our ornamental grasses prior to spring.  Urban was in for some pruning in the entrance garden. Marv B. worked on staining new obelisks while Vern, Jim, Steve J. and Bob K. continued assembling more of these obelisks for the gift shop and Spring Plant Sale.  Gary worked on cleaning up our laser engraver and Peg was in for more work on plant records.  Kathy P. helped with some inside projects then moved out to the gardens for more “pre-spring” clean-up efforts.  Dr. Gredler was in for painting in the afternoon.  We also saw Rollie, Maryam, Chris D. and many others today.

‘Sandra’ vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) – flowers above, fall color below

‘Diane’ vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis)

Grape Fizz™ vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis ‘KLMNN’)

‘Kohankie Red’ vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis)

‘Christmas Cheer’ vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) – above and below

‘Arnold Promise’ hybrid witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) – above and two below

It’s been exciting to be involved with the Iron County Horticulture Therapy Summit up in Hurley, WI for the past couple of days.  I traveled north with Mike Maddox, UW Extension Statewide Master Gardener Coordinator and Mike Geiger, a UW Grad student (Horticulture) on Wednesday as all three of us are involved in this event as presenters.  We negotiated the snowy travel conditions to arrive safely and have enjoyed interacting with a wide range of therapists, activity directors, Master Gardeners and other professionals regarding the benefits of Horticulture Therapy with a wide range of supporting directives, guidance, ideas, support materials, activities and dialogue.  Darrin and Amy (Iron County UW Extension), along with their Master Gardeners, have run a great event and we’ve all benefited from the ideas, sharing and resulting conversations that these events help facilitate.  The North woods are beautiful this time of year and I hope to see this event continue in the future as everyone in attendance was in agreement that plants are so important for people in so many ways!  I didn’t partake of the bar and bowling option seen above at the main venue hall for this event.  Enjoy photos of this super event.

Mike Maddox (left) and Darrin Kimbler (UW Extension, Iron County)

Mike M. facilitated an early icebreaker that involved collaborative flower arranging (see above and below) with this activity becoming the basis for many considerations and discussions as they relate to Horticulture Therapy

adaptive gardening tools were on display (above)

amazing sponsors for this event (above)

the local newspaper (Daily Globe) featured the event in the morning paper today (I’m in the article photo too!)

When I was at Reiman Gardens (Iowa State University, Ames, IA) last week, I could already smell fragrance out in the gardens.  Recent warmth has started to awaken some of our gardens recently and that scent was quite welcome.  I tracked it back to a Vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis) that was in full bloom; perfuming the air with a spicy scent.  Late winter and spring scent can be provided in the gardens by many of our woody plants.  Some of the many opportunities for including spring fragrance in the garden are included in this blog although knowing more specifics on proper siting and care of each selection is important.  These early perfumes are meant to attract pollinators but I can vouch for the favorable scent on all of these including the fragrant abelia (Abelia mosanensis) seen directly above and directly below.  Many of these shrubs also have decent fall color or some additional feature(s) of merit.  Check on hardiness as a couple of these are “touchy” even for us in Southern WI.

We had a very productive day both out in the gardens and at the Horticulture Center.  Larry H., Larry O., Janice and Cindy were all involved as grounds staff today with myriad tasks.  We continue to bring in the many elements of the Holiday Light Show (HLS) which has been progressing well with decent weather (sunny and 40 degrees F today).  Dennis and Lloyd continued cutting down ornamental grasses while Urban was in for some pruning.  Kathy P. worked on some odds and ends around the office. Marv B., Ron Y., Dave, Vern, Bob K. and Jim all worked on indoor carpentry projects, painting, etc.  Dr. Gredler was in for more painting and Dick H. helped with various tasks.  Maury F. was back for some errands while Ron P. continued repairing lights (lots!) before they are stored until this fall.  Peg worked on our plant records system and we had a meeting of Pam, Barb C., Polly, Marlene, Julie W. (Hedberg Library), Becky and myself about the Giant Aquarium and Story Walk program for this year.  We also saw Rollie, Maryam and many others today.

fragrant abelia (Abelia mosanensis)

white forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum)

Beaver Creek® witch alder (Fothergilla gardenii ‘KLMtwo’)

‘Christmas Cheer’ Vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis)

golden mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius)

‘E. A. Bowles’ variegated mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius)

‘Marie Frances’ French lilac (Syringa vulgaris)

white fragrant viburnum (Viburnum farreri ‘Candidissimum’)

Spice Island™ Koreanspice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii ‘J. N. Select A’)

American Spice™ Burkwood viburnum (Viburnum burkwoodii ‘Duvone’)

Judd viburnum (Viburnum x juddii)

I spent a good portion of the week out in Iowa which also experienced this recent record breaking warming spell.  The travel was all smooth sailing which you can’t always count on in February.  I had three presentations at the 61st Annual Shade Tree Short Course (sponsored by Iowa State University in Ames, IA) and enjoyed attending seminars, networking and seeing Reiman Gardens on campus.  On the way there, I stopped in Clinton, IA to enjoy the Bickelhaupt Arboretum.  While this was not my first visit there (seven times and counting…), it was my first visit on a 70 degree F February day and I was the only soul out there.  I enjoyed examining, photographing and enjoying their massive collection of conifers (over 600 different types or accessions).  Founded in 1970 by Bob and Frances Bickelhaupt, this 14 acre, non-profit is amazing in scope and plant content.  In 2014, this arboretum was given to the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) and continues to be an educational resource as well as a beautiful destination.  The mission of The Bickelhaupt Arboretum is to serve as a connection between people and plants through a better understanding of horticulture by developing and maintaining a well-documented collection of landscape plants adapted to this region for education and enjoyment.

‘Filifera Aurea’ falsecypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)

‘Stewart’s Gem’ compact Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Korean arborvitae (Thuja koraiensis)

‘Archer’s Dwarf’ concolor fir (Abies concolor)

‘Sester Dwarf’ Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens)

‘Minima’ dwarf Serbian spruce (Picea omorika)

‘de Ruyter’ Serbian spruce (Picea omorika)

‘Angel Fall’s’ weeping white pine (Pinus strobus)

‘Pruhoniciana’ weeping white spruce (Picea abies)

‘Ottawa’ white pine (Pinus strobus)

‘Pincushion’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)

‘Oliver Dwarf’ white pine (Pinus strobus)

‘Golden Glow’ korean pine (Pinus koraiensis)

The snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) seen above are the first spring blooms we’ve noted thus far.  I saw them bud out last week and this photo is from this morning. This is the first of many patches that have emerged quickly with more to bloom daily during this “pre-spring” warm up.  While these are blooming about five weeks early, this is not the earliest I’ve seen this patch emerge.  Back in 2012, we had warm weather in January and this patch, historically the first to always bloom due to close proximity to warming rocks, was in full bloom by late January.  Warm weather this week will get lots of plants thinking it’s April which will be dangerous if they start too much active growth prior to the distinct possibility of multiple cold snaps yet this winter.  We’ll see!  The winter garden has beauty (even without snow!) and it was nice to see ornamental bark, grasses and some colorful conifers (below) as well.

We had a very productive day both inside and outside.  Larry H., Larry O. and Cindy continue to dismantle and take down the Holiday Light Show (HLS).  There is also a lot of tidying to accomplish as a result of the HLS and the weather is perfect this week for such activities.  Ron R. and Dick H. hauled back our temporary pine trees from the HLS among other duties.  Dennis J. started cutting back ornamental grasses and both Stan and Kristen started work in the Japanese garden.  Jim H. and a group of RECAPPERS helped with some pruning today.  Steve J. worked on a plumbing project while Bob K. has some projects of his own. Kathy P. helped with some indoor projects including processing lights.  Dr. Gredler was in for some painting while Marv B., Ron Y., Dave and Vern continued with carpentry projects.  Ron P. continues to make great progress repairing lights and we also saw Bill O., Gary S., Rollie M., Mark S. and Kelli C with a co-worker.

‘Wate’s Golden’ Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana)

‘Carsten’s Wintergold’ mugo pine (Pinus mugo)

All of these new foam critters will be ultimately featured in our Giant Aquarium garden this year which will also interpret a new story book.  Working with the Hedberg Public Library, the book Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae will help guide our planting themes to correspond with this excellent story.  The Giant Aquarium was a huge hit in 2016 and we anticipate a successful display this year with the story being represented both inside and outside the walk-in aquarium.  These images only represent a small fraction of some of the new wildlife and features that will be utilized this year.  These were designed and created by our Grumpy volunteers!